eCommerce Summit Q&A: Part 2

TheBrewsNewsOn April 29, 2008 at 3:47 pm Said:

QUOTE: “On the first point, it’s more accurate to say that Amazon protects sellers who ship to the address that Amazon “allows” to go through checkout, not that they protect sellers who ship to “any” address a buyer provides.”

My response:
YES YES YES and YES again!!!!! That is EXACTLY what I want as a seller. Don’t give me an eBay order where the buyer won’t pay (but of course I get the privilege of paying fees to eBay for that nonpaying bidder) and then if the bidder does pay there is a good possibility that I won’t be protected. I would gladly take an Amazon order ANY DAY where the address I am given is one that Amazon “allows.” If a customer on Amazon continually claims not to receive packages from a variety of sellers then guess what Amazon does? Yep, no more orders allowed for that buyer / address. Sounds like HEAVEN to me!

PLEASE that is EXACTLY what we eBay sellers are BEGGING eBay to do…. get rid of the deadbeat and fraudulent buyers. Or, at the very least, allow us sellers to do it ourselves by linking any new buyer’s IDs to their current or previous IDs so that we can block them ourselves. Instead, eBay is opening their welcome arms to all the Amazon-rejects. I guess that is one way to get new eBay buyers.

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QUOTE: “And to my second point above, in part to cover the cost of fraud at high price points on transactions it is letting through, Amazon charges you more than eBay and PayPal combined.”

My response:
Yep… you are right again! And I absolutely positively want that. Let’s compare my eBay versus Amazon sales for ONE particular “high price point” item. I offered the SAME exact item for sale on eBay and Amazon. I sold the item in both venues.

eBay Sale
Took me three times to list before it was sold. Paid insertion fees 3 times. Of course, I cannot get nearly as high a price on eBay as I can on Amazon for the same exact item so I have to offer the item for sale at a significantly less price AND I offer free shipping on eBay. So….

Item sold (after 3 attempts) for $199.99 and free shipping.
eBay fees (insertion and final value fees) of $13.76
Paypal fees $6.10
Total paid to eBay / Paypal - $19.86
NET proceeds received - $180.13

Amazon Sale
Of course I receive a much higher price for the same item AND I charged shipping fees to the buyer.

Item sold for $259.99 plus $28.77 shipping.
Insertion fee - $0
Amazon commission $43.32
NET proceeds received - $245.44

It’s kind of a no-brainer for me… I get $180.13 net proceeds from eBay or $245.44 net proceeds from Amazon for the exact same item. Amazon can charge me more than eBay any day! For me, it is a Win/Win on Amazon for high price point items.

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MistyOn April 29, 2008 at 3:53 pm Said:

With shipping labels printed through PayPal what is PayPal doing to ensure that USPS is scanning all DC packages upon delivery? What recourse do we have if/when they don’t?

Randy SmytheOn April 29, 2008 at 4:34 pm Said:

TheBrewsNews

Can I repost you comment on my blog? That is a perfect example of the differences between the marketplaces.

On eBay you have the “eBay discount” to account for perception of the marketplace.

it has never actually been about the fees IMO. Sellers want value for their fees and are willing to pay more for more value.

Please email me and let me know if I could repost your example.

Thanks
RKS

DagnyOn April 29, 2008 at 4:53 pm Said:

“Provide great experiences for buyers, qualify for Power Seller status, and then along with the many other benefits eBay provides, you can get this protection from PayPal.”

As individual who did $200-500 in sales per month (I have stopped selling and buying for now) who provided great customer service and who has no desire to be a Power Seller…why must all of the goodies and protections be based on volume and not solely on performance?

If providing a good buyer experience was truly the goal of eBay then I with my terrific DSR’s (lowest is 4.7) would be rewarded with discounts and protections.

What incentives is eBay going to give me to start selling again on their site? Is my business not important to eBay?

I’m forced to take PayPal. I risk having my money held for 21 days because I sell in the computer networking category. My reputation is subject to the whim of buyers who choose not to pay but can suffer no damage to their public reputation. They can create new ID’s at will. Non-public sanctions are only useful up to a point.

Richard, what will eBay do to keep me as a customer? Right now the only message I am getting is…”Go away kid, ya bother me.”

CrunchyPostingGoodnessOn April 29, 2008 at 7:45 pm Said:

Richard,

I thank you so much for asking my question, but as is the norm for eBay, Monroe Labouisse completely missed the main point of my question, and if fact, provided completely incorrect information with regards to Amazon. Please allow me to clarify and correct.

First, my main question was, “Why isn’t PayPal confirming ALL buyer shipping addresses for ALL sellers?” I’m not sure how much clearer I can make it. Labouisse’s response is in regards to Power Seller protections only, so unless all sellers are Power Sellers (and I know they are not), then his entire response is worthless and has nothing to do with the question I asked. Even Colin, from PayPal, was able to understand my question when I asked him in this blog, so I’m not sure how someone who is supposed to be educated like Labouisse is not able to understand it too.

1. An Amazon buyer can enter any Ship To address they want and Amazon guarantees it. The buyer enters the Ship To address at the time of payment, so it appears on the sellers packing list. Buyers do not change the Ship To address after the fact, and are in fact, instructed not to contact the seller after the fact to switch it by Amazon. The address does NOT need to match the credit card or the buyer’s address. So when Labouisse says, “it’s more accurate to say that Amazon protects sellers who ship to the address that Amazon “allows” to go through checkout, not that they protect sellers who ship to “any” address a buyer provides”, he is wrong. I sell on Amazon, as a Pro-Merchant, and I can guarantee you that he is wrong.

2. He is also wrong about, “Amazon charges more for transactions at high price points (where fraud is most likely to take place) than eBay and PayPal together charge”. The most Amazon charges is 15% of the entire transaction, dependent upon the category. They do not base it on “price point”, but on competition levels determined by the number of sellers in a particular category. In fact Electronic items and Computers, which would be considered “high risk” only get charged 8%. The category I sell in, which is considered “low risk”, is 15% commission. I do not pay a listing fee - I do not have to re-list (paying more fees) every 7 or 10 days. I don’t know where he is getting his misinformation from. Perhaps it is the same place which tells eBay these changes are good?

Not to mention the fact that I can sell my items there for more money and less hassle than eBay.

I have had two charge backs attempted against my account there, and neither one was granted. The buyer didn’t go through any Amazon claim process. The buyers tried to perform charge backs directly through their credit card company, and Amazon did NOT allow it. All I needed to do was provide Amazon with the delivery confirmation number, which showed the item was delivered, and I got to keep my money. I think we all know from BrewNews’s experience how well PayPal protects sellers with regards to charge backs. These were my actual experiences with Amazon. They are fact, and therefore I place more trust in them than Labousisse’s fiction.

Perhaps you should invite him to post here, so he can become educated on how Amazon really operates and protects its sellers?

“Second, sometimes we let transactions go through that we choose not to protect, but we let merchants know when that is the case and provide them with information they need to decide on their own what’s right for their business.”

…and the buyer can leave negative feedback for the seller, should PayPal decide to let an unsecured payment go through, and the seller refuses the payment. Perhaps they do that because it isn’t PayPal who will lose money, but the seller?

Again Richard, I thank you for asking the question. However, I’m sorry that Director of North American Marketplaces, PayPal, choose not to address it.

Perhaps you can ask it again, or have him read the responses here, so perhaps he will understand the question better?

spinach.chinOn April 29, 2008 at 8:27 pm Said:

On the first point, it’s more accurate to say that Amazon protects sellers who ship to the address that Amazon “allows” to go through checkout, not that they protect sellers who ship to “any” address a buyer provides.

Monroe, just exactly what address do you expect that sellers ship to when receiving an Amazon order? On Amazon, ANY seller (not just big sellers) can ship to ANY address provided through the Amazon checkout process, and they will be covered. It’s as simple as that. Amazon has had that protection in place for some time now, whereas eBay/PP is just getting around to implementing their version of it - albeit, for powersellers only…

At any rate, comparing fees of PP and Amazon are apples and oranges. Amazon sellers can charge a fair shipping charge to their customers knowing that the venue (Amazon) has their full support behind your right to do so. Also, I would give a conservative guesstimate that my items sell for 25% to sometimes 40% more than they do on eBay - this is for items that sell mainly in the $5 to $20 price point. The comparison of fees on the two venues is non-existent - I am concerned about my bottom-line, not about how much I am paying in fees. If I paid an extra dollar in fees, but made an extra $2.50 in profit, am I not better off?

Perhaps you can ask it again, or have him read the responses here, so perhaps he will understand the question better?

Crunchy, it was a great question, and I am not at all surprised that he completely missed the point. I agree that he might benefit from visiting the blog and reading some posts to become a bit more well-informed.

CrunchyPostingGoodnessOn April 29, 2008 at 8:41 pm Said:

I would also like to add that as to the value of eBay & PayPal fees vs those I pay to Amazon - I see no comparison.

1. Amazon protects me for all Ship To addresses the buyer provides during checkout - Ebay does not. I’m not a Power Seller on eBay.

2. eBay raised its fees, but offered no additional value or features. Sellers pay those fees, even if their item doesn’t sell. Amazon offers me everything I could ever want. I do not pay anything if my item doesn’t sell and I don’t have to continually re-list it.

3. I can sell my items for significantly more on Amazon and with less hassle than eBay.

4. Amazon provides me with an actual, educated person to address any questions or concerns I may have. Ebay just gives me unrelated, automatic canned email responses. I have to call PayPal at least 5 times, and speak to 5 different people, just to get one small issue or question resolved.

5. Amazon listens, and acts on my suggestions for improving their site. eBay - all we get is double talk and silence.

These are just a few of the differences. I, like Brew’s, am happy to pay the fees for a well functioning product. Amazon provides that - eBay does not.

On a side note, I’m a little concerned with Labousisse’s response for another reason. In the “eBay Australia Announces Safe Payment Initiative” thread, Colin Rule, Director of Online Dispute Resolution at PayPal stated on 4.22.2008 at 11:06 PM,
“As Rajiv said at the last eBay Live, that’s the ultimate goal of all these expanded seller protection efforts. We rolled out to Power Sellers first, but it’s clear where all this is heading. I can’t say when it will happen, but I know what the eventual objective is, and it’s exactly what you describe. As Rajiv put it, he wants to make every address confirmed on PayPal. Which of course would mean the end of confirmed addresses.”

Yet, Labousisse made no mention of that at all. Wouldn’t that have been the ideal time to reiterate such a plan for the future? Or is this another case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing?

The more I see and hear, the less confidence I have in eBay’s and PayPal’s ability to monitor things properly. How can they monitor millions of users, when they can’t even manage their own employees?

I was comforted by the thought that PayPal was actively planning to make ALL buyer addresses confirmed for ALL sellers, but it appears this is not the plan at all.

Patricia 1On April 29, 2008 at 8:47 pm Said:

“With shipping labels printed through PayPal what is PayPal doing to ensure that USPS is scanning all DC packages upon delivery? What recourse do we have if/when they don’t?”

Nothing! In fact just today I had a priority package with the label I printed thru Paypal. I took it to the post office and paid for tracking. The clerk said “it already has free delivery confirmation” and I said yeah but now I have a stamp to prove it was mailed and you people will scan it in right now instead of whenever its delivered. When I’m mailing a higher priced item I’ll pay to get that extra tracking slip for proof.

Patricia 1On April 29, 2008 at 8:49 pm Said:

@ Brews - thanks for that comparison - its a real eye opener.

TheBrewsNewsOn April 29, 2008 at 10:25 pm Said:

Randy, please feel free to repost. I started poking around your blog tonight for the first time. We really should have a cup of coffee together sometime!

SandiOn April 29, 2008 at 11:55 pm Said:

Richard, I asked some questions that relate directly to the upcoming feedback changes last week. While it was nice you got some answers, the feedback issue is truly critical to sellers. Given most of us think ebay management has really lost touch with the environment of ebay, can you please get some answers so sellers can make educated decisions as it relates to the feedback changes?

It would be very helpful in light that often times the employees sellers contact when an issue arises don’t know the rules themselves, as illustrated by the post regarding ebay pulling digital listings before the policy changed.

=====repost with edits=========

Richard, below is the email sellers got today from ebay, I would request you obtain additional information and let us know, as you will note, it is the standard ebay vague:

“Feedback changes to benefit sellers
eBay’s making some important changes to Feedback in May to boost buyer confidence and improve the eBay marketplace. The changes include important protections for sellers against unfair negative Feedback. Negative or neutral Feedback will be removed when it appears a buyer is abusing the system. If you think this is happening to you, report to eBay by using the Contact Us link on any eBay Help page. We’ll also remove Feedback when a buyer doesn’t respond to an Unpaid Item (UPI) report, or if buyer responds but doesn’t specifically call out seller performance, item condition or transaction problems. ”

1. Feedback changes to benefit sellers

—-
Did they laugh when they came up with that sentence?

2. The changes include important protections for sellers against unfair negative Feedback. Negative or neutral Feedback will be removed when it appears a buyer is abusing the system.

—-
What’s the rule, 5%, 40%, when we feel like it? What guideline was written and given to the employees who will be determining this?

How many employees have been hired to ensure customer service being timely and responsive? Saying “we have expended resources” could mean they added a new reply bot, an extra server to catch email afterall. What specifically has ebay done to ensure sellers are in fact protected? Is there an actual email address - not the form - but an email address a seller can contact?

3. if buyer responds but doesn’t specifically call out seller performance, item condition or transaction problems.

—-
Call me simple minded, but this one is just plain puzzling. If a buyer does not pay, how can they possibly have a valid comment about seller performance, item condition or transaction problems? Most sellers follow ebay/Paypal’s rule - get paid before you ship afterall.

Again, how many employees will now be now reviewing ALL UPI disputes, we all know it was an automated system previously, again, can you provide us with the guideline written for employees are responsible for making these decisions.

Look forward to your answers. Thanks Richard!

HenriettaOn April 30, 2008 at 11:38 am Said:

Richard’s post was essentially about shipping and Mr Lathi’s astounding statement that “free shipping is becoming increasingly popular on the web”. Industry marketing journals disagree with Mr Lathi, free shipping is so last year, social networking is the trend of the future.

I would appreciate clarification from Mr Lathi of his unsupported statement.

Is his statement about ‘free’ shipping on purchases with no minimum purchase required? If so would he please provide names of the retailers who are offering this.

Is he thinking merchants will offer standard SLOW ground shipping (which would cause severe DSR damage because MY buyers want their goodies ASAP) or does he expect free expedited? I don’t know what eBay’s buyers want because I have never met one.

I do know that eBay does NOT give free shipping on items purchased from the eBay Shop. It would not be inaccurate to say that eBay’s S&H charge of $17.63 default shipping for a single sticker sheet would get an excessive shipping warning balloon if I listed it. My standard charge is 2.25 for as many sheets as you care to buy.

Does eBay have plans to lead by example?

Is he talking about limited term promotional shipping, which we all do from time to time? That is not the impression I get from his statement.

Patricia1On April 30, 2008 at 11:50 am Said:

Perhaps if ebay LOWERED fees to a reasonable amount…took ADS off our listings that distract buyers….and did a little ADVERTISING with our fees to attract some buyers…we could AFFORD to offer free shipping. Trouble with ebay is they want EVERYTHING at EVERYONE elses EXPENSE and want to offer NOTHING in return! :-)

permacrisisOn April 30, 2008 at 3:29 pm Said:

@patricia 1, re Delivery Conf

There are 2 things you can do to encourage the pre-printed DC labels to be scanned. I am not saying it is fair that you must do them, only that they work.

1. Take a fluorescent green hi-liter and draw a box around the barcode with a fat green bar above it. This will encourage plant employees to scan your package in transit.

2. Find a NICE postal clerk who will scan your package upon acceptance. Once you do find one, don’t get them in trouble– the USPS INSTRUCTS clerks not to scan the packages, so one who does is doing you a favor. Preserve and protect that relationship!

You may also wish to consider linking the buyer to the Delivery Confirmation email tool. Provided that the package gets scanned in initially, this tool works great.

JJHOn April 30, 2008 at 5:00 pm Said:

@Patricia1

As Permacrisis says, ask the clerk to do an “Acceptance Scan” when you hand the package over. Mine do it all the time for me. Chances are they already know you at your PO and wouldn’t mind. In fact, if I just leave the package on the counter and don’t say anything, 75% of the time it will be scanned on acceptance anyway.

I wasn’t aware that the USPS tells clerks NOT to accept scan packages. What sense does that make? What’s the point of the delivery confirmation system if you can’t see the package is in the system? “Billing Information Received” (same code UPS uses) means NOTHING. You can’t actually prove the package has been mailed and is in the system unless you have a scan showing either it’s been accepted, was scanned somewhere along the way, or “deliver scanned”. Which, incidentally about 1% of my packages are not (delivery scanned). They stay forever as “acceptance scan” or “Billing Information Received”.

Patricia1On April 30, 2008 at 5:54 pm Said:

@ perma - I’ll try the green highlighter. They will absolutely NOT scan the package in at the counter. One clerk told me “no” its scan upon delivery only, another clerk told me “you have to buy tracking in order to track a package, this is only scanned in upon delivery.” :-( I’m not saying they’re right…goodness knows I had to practically teach them all about electronic postage a few years ago. None of them even had training on it.

PermacrisisOn May 1, 2008 at 9:19 am Said:

Basically all 3 are right.

I worked USPS for years, was there when the first Symbol 386-based scanners came in, and watched the DC “no acceptance” policy come down later.

USPS are quasi-governmental, quasi-corporate– arguably the worst of both. The craze as of late is revenue, revenue, revenue generation. If it doesn’t increase revenue, don’t do it, hence the refusal to do over-counter scans. What can’t be assessed is the loss of customer goodwill that results– same as ebay.

So it’s OK to stand around on break, lines out the door. But it’s verboten to scan a barcode on the clock. That wastes “labor”– as if labor comes in 5 gallon cans… You roll your eyes so often in that place, you have to unkink your optic nerves.

Delivery confirmation was never intended to provide real-time tracking, and is usually 1 day off. (Ebay corporate probably doesn’t even know this.)

Even in the best-case delivery confirmation scenario, scans don’t upload till that night. The carrier’s handheld scanners are not returned to their charging cradles till 6 pm when they come off the road. Scans do not upload till nighttime, a throwback to the days when it was done over phone lines.

To predicate a sellers reputation, exposure, and indeed livelihood on Delivery Confirmation is to invite disaster. But that’s on them. You owe it to yourself, green hi-liter in hand, to do the best you can with it- at least until you can leave here.

PermacrisisOn May 1, 2008 at 9:20 am Said:

And pat:

Find a new office and find a new clerk. Bring chocolate!

Patricia1On May 1, 2008 at 10:17 am Said:

@ perma - I begged them for a roll of tape. They are so stiff even chocolate wouldn’t help. I get the tape from a friend who has to mail them to me. Her post office just gives them to her because she’s always there LOL Maybe they don’t like little old gray haired ladies :-) I’ve seen them at their worst. In the huge post office where I used to live there was one elderly clerk who was probably near retirement. Just the meanest person and he would always say they can’t do anything about me. I do as I please and they can’t do a thing to me. I though - wow! if that was me I’d be fired on the spot. Is it really like that or was this character just off his rocker?

AmberOn May 1, 2008 at 10:37 am Said:

Patricia, just a side note, there is the new(er) SCAN form which you can access from either click n ship or Paypal Multi Order shipping.

Per USPS regs, they are REQUIRED to scan that form (which includes the dc for all packages done in that “batch”) at acceptance.

I personally never have enough packages to fiddle with the form, and ironically get pretty detailed tracking with my slow poke media mail, but it is a way around the “won’t scan the packages” dilemma.

Patricia1On May 1, 2008 at 11:17 am Said:

@ Amber - I heard that before…however, most of my paintings are tiny with maybe one or two large ones each week. I’ll keep that in mind though. For the more expensive paintings I still will stand in line and get tracking - its well worth the extra 65 cents.

JJHOn May 1, 2008 at 3:50 pm Said:

Guys, I must have an unusual post office. I love my clerks, they are the greatest people. I drop packages off at 6:30am on the way to work. I just ruing the doorbell and they take them. They do it for anyone. They will also give you a package if you have one waiting. It’s great. Here’s an email I got just a little while ago, it’s a package I dropped off at 6 in the morning, and did not ask for them to scan (I’ve removed the city names):

Delivered 05/01/08 7:57am
Arrival at Unit 05/01/08 6:52am
Processed 04/30/08 6:09pm
Processed 04/29/08 6:52pm
Acceptance 04/29/08 10:11am

Some post offices are good, some stink. It depends on employee attitude. I know my office simple HATES asking everyone if they want to “supersize it” (do you want delivery confirmation of insurance?). We all know the tactic. Most people will say “yes” without thinking and more $$$ go to the PO, yet we still have rate increases…

SandiOn May 1, 2008 at 4:41 pm Said:

@JJH

I lived in Houston for 5 years and got the surprise of my life. The main post office is located next door to Bush International Airport - that post office is one of 3 or 4 in the US open 24/7/365.

I rarely went inside (that was a mess as it was the one and only passport center in Houston), but they had a door and ramp where the trucks loaded and unloaded. You simply rang the bell and they were there, often times helping me upload the car.

My mail person was great about pickups as well, she never once complained when I opted for pickup at the house.

“yet we still have rate increases”

They use gas - I realized just how out of touch ebay was when they were saying free shipping was the “standard” for ecommerce - do they never fill their own gas tanks?

Do they not watch the news talking about truckers threatening strike because of the cost of diesel fuel? How does the ebay braintrust think these packages get from seller to buyer???

Shipping across the board has gone up at the same rate as the price of oil. I just shipped 3 packages UPS that cost 42.00-48.00 each, last year those same size paintings cost me 24.00 - 29.00 to ship.

Patricia1On May 2, 2008 at 5:07 pm Said:

Wish my post office was like that. They aren’t mean people but pretty stiff and stick to the rules (even if they have to make them up) ;-)

KDOn May 3, 2008 at 9:19 am Said:

Matt Halprin: “There is one suggestion I’ve heard that we’ve debated internally on. If we gave a small final value credit for sellers that provide free shipping, since eBay is actually making a little more money on that transaction, that’s something we’ve talked about”.

Ah,ah…I see, now I know you all must have ben hired to run us in circles.

Enough is enough. Mr. Halprin, I buy that just as much as I bought the reason why my bidder ID is masked.

What are you people trying to prove. Whatever it is, it’s being done by design. I think you are stalling for time to go by.

We, as sellers need to wake up fast. They have no intention of constructively helping sellers. It doesn’t make sense to most of you, in time it will become clear. For now, just know that this whole scheme is meant to cover up for some other insidious reason.

Trust yourselves, you know someting is really wrong. There is something really wrong. Put your guard up, eBay is not your friend. Definitely for sure, they do not have your best interets at heart. I’m sorry~ It’s very sad for us~

KDOn May 3, 2008 at 10:35 am Said:

For whatever it’s worth, Mr. Donohoe said Amazon was a failure.

I am wondering, why is Amazon mentioned so much?

About shipping: it’s simple. You find out what shipping cost will be, you add enough for shipping materials, figure in gas to the Post Office and also your time. Nothing less is reasonable under any phony circumstance eBay gives. The buyer has always expected to pay for shipping and there is no need to lower our standards so eBay will make more money. Don’t ever compromise or sell yourself short.

Do not entertain irrational requests. It’s asking way too much from a seller to offer free shipping, give more FVF to eBay because the free shipping drives up the closing price, then to hear Mr. Halprin say, “If we gave a small final value credit for sellers that provide free shipping, since eBay is actually making a little more money on that transaction”, Oh my God,laugh…this is lunacy. Again, what makes eBay think we would ever lose money when eBay wouldn’t?

eBay is going to charge for every little detail, (i.e.: they are now taking part of your FVF if you want your listing outside US and want it to show up Internationally…last I listed, that was free, as it should be…no sense to go into the reasoning as to why it has to be free…would be a waste of my time again).
I can say that’s just one tiny example. Now and in the future a user will be paying every time they turn around for new “innovations” attached to eBay.

Would eBay offer free shipping? Ms. Lorrie said No. She said, “If you’re holding the inventory, you can subsidize free shipping and the economics will work for you. Our approach is to try and find the best possible rates for our sellers and put as much influence on the carriers to guarantee our sellers can get the best possible rates”.

Hello miss, I am not your seller, I am self employed and last I looked, eBay worked for me, I pay them.
I will never lose sight of that position and no one will ever switch around my reality whether I choose to stay with eBay or not.

Second, sellers do hold inventory and quite large ones, in most cases. Do you pay for warehousing/storage costs? No, eBay doesn’t pay for any sellers overhead costs.

Third, in the US eBay/PayPal partners with the USPS and eBay cannot make any deals to lower shipping with a governmental institution. If they tried the FBI would be after them, it’s a federal offense to mess with the USPS. So I have no idea how you can “try and find the best possible rates for our sellers and put as much influence on the carriers to guarantee our sellers can get the best possible rates”. Bologna. eBay management is full of it and they know it. If they don’t, then someone has toyed with their reasoning.
In regard to postal rates, I think you have exaggerated your exact position and what you can exactly do, as an employee of eBay. I don’t care what title you all place on yourselves, you are all employees. You all need to be held accountable for what you are telling sellers here.

Since it’s just a matter of a little bit of time until the covers come off and the world will see just what eBay is doing and what it’s all about now, I suggest again, just tell the sellers what your plan really is and let the sellers know now that they are out of the eBay Big Picture.

Sorry again sellers, this is sad but true.

Patricia1On May 3, 2008 at 11:27 am Said:

Everybody here is venting and spinning their wheels. Its clear to me that this whole blog idea was a platform for them to try to get us to believe all the changes are good. They were going to come in here one at a time and explain how much better off we’ll (they’ll) be once all the changes are made. The fact that we can see right thru ALL the changes they are making is beyond them. So, since all the venting here…they’ve kind of gone away. We’re a waste of their time and they have no logical debate against what we say - we’re just too in-the-know to bother with ;-)

Patricia1On May 3, 2008 at 11:54 am Said:

Just ran across this on the Seller Central board. I’ve removed the buyer’s ID:

“Ebay says think twice before leaving 5 stars! WTF?????

View Listings | Report May-03-08 08:53 PDT
I don’t know if I’m part of another ridiculous test, but I just left feedback for a seller…a boardie as a matter of fact. When I went to leave my 5 stars on each category, I got a little message that said something like:

“Are you sure? Remember, the ratings left by you are anonymous and can’t be seen by the seller.” ”

Now, correct me if I’m wrong….buyer only gets a choice of whole numbers for stars….either 4 or 5 and ebay has already said 4.0 is bad. Ebay is starting to remind me of Germany a long time ago. I was happy to see the BUYER was not pleased! ;-)

LisaOn May 3, 2008 at 6:39 pm Said:

Well, it’s become clear where Ebay is heading and what changes they have in mind. I’m a Powerseller-have been on Ebay for 8 years-and have made a very good supplemental income for my family. We’ve come to depend on the money.

Then in January, Ebay announces upcoming changes that make no sense. Since then, they’ve been stringing sellers along giving out bits and pieces of information. Then suddenly, after reading about Buy.com, the lightbulb in my head comes on and I realize I’ve been given my pink slip. This is my job, my income. Sure, there’s some up-and-coming auction sites out there, but nothing that has the kind of traffic Ebay has. I’m trying to decide if I should list a big lot clearance on Ebay and go into something different, or start again on one of those new sites.

Ebay exec’s don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves. This is a company that has no conscience about throwing people out on the streets. If they do it to the little “sellers”, they’ll do it to the big ones. I believe what comes around goes around, as Pollyannish as that sounds. People will get a clue soon enough. I honestly don’t see Ebay faring so well in the future.

This company was so unique and brilliant. A global flea market. People loved it and flocked to it. These execs don’t get it. I don’t care what colleges they graduated from. They don’t get Ebay and they don’t get the people who love it. But maybe when they’re out on the streets, it’ll dawn on them. I only hope.

KDOn May 4, 2008 at 10:33 pm Said:

It’s clear that eBay’s motives are less than honorable.

But it’s worth pointing out the little message that alerts buyers to ask themselves, “are you sure”.

There it is. I believe eBay dared to use buyers to gradually leave feedback that is the least positive possible, thereby building credibility against eBay current sellers (the ones they want to relieve themselves of). By doing that they build a case against sellers by a recorded of declining feedback, which in reality they fostered. Sellers who are voicing there complaint against irrational, no logic changes will then lose credibility, eventually proving eBay’s point that all the changes were really necessary. They have essentially made buyers and sellers turn ugly on each other, while at the same time achieving a position where they look lily white.

I think eBay should be accused of sever abuse against users.

I really believe that eBay is in fact abusing people after weeks of witnessing (through reading real accounts all over the internet and media) mass complaints (that eBay is hurting them one way or another) by literally thousands of people.

eBay needs to be held accountable, regardless the accusation, if all these people are hurting all at once, at the same time for the same reasons.